Even though he got hurt tonight, D Simon has been impressive since returning. Good problem to have!

That lines been kind of a shit show, tbh. He's not playing particularly well. Skating hard but has been ineffective with and without the puck.

On a related note, there was a specific instance in the 2nd period where Simon lost his stick. It went flying into the Flyers zone. The Flyers were quickly rushing the puck to the Penguins zone. Simon had two options here.

1) Skate to the bench and have a player relieve him2) Skate to the bench and quickly grab a new stick

Guess what he chose?

Option 3.

Simon skated ALL THE WAY into the Flyers zone and allllllll the way back to the Penguins end, effectively giving the Flyers a mini power play for about 15 seconds.

ZAR could be a good look as L3. Solid puck retriever, decent net front prescence, and some finish. You see the play making with Brassard but hasn’t quite clicked. It’ll get there. Adding a puck retriever will help.

I then go Rust R4. First, Rusty is capable of moving up the lines at any moment. Second, he instantly makes the fourth line credible. Thirdly, keeps him fresh for PK.

ZAR could be a good look as L3. Solid puck retriever, decent net front prescence, and some finish. You see the play making with Brassard but hasn’t quite clicked. It’ll get there. Adding a puck retriever will help.

I then go Rust R4. First, Rusty is capable of moving up the lines at any moment. Second, he instantly makes the fourth line credible. Thirdly, keeps him fresh for PK.

Finally, Maatta was god awful.

Yeah but it sounds like ZAR is out for awhile, so I wouldn't be penciling him in ANYWHERE for your playoff lineup

I thought ZAR was skating at least but with an upper body injury who knows. Now, if Simon and Rust are out for a while that means Sully can play a favorite in Rowney but who do they call up? That should be interesting.

I thought ZAR was skating at least but with an upper body injury who knows. Now, if Simon and Rust are out for a while that means Sully can play a favorite in Rowney but who do they call up? That should be interesting.

OK. If Sheary starts playing better and up to his skill set I really like our top 9 going into the playoffs. If ZAR gets healthy, even better.

What I am worrying about more is our goaltender situation. I didn’t realize how good we had it the last two seasons until seeing what MAF has done in the desert. Glad we brought home the hardware while we had two of the best in net.